Netflix Renaissance

I don't know if its been noticed, but I've been away for a while (For a multitude of reasons: the busy season at my job coming to a crescendo, suddenly moving up my wedding six months early, helping my now wife with graduate school, etc.), but I should be back pretty regularly now. But posting here isn't the only thing that's sort of been pushed aside; I've also been neglecting by Netflix by mail movies.

But that's all going to change, I re-rented Pickup on South Street (1953), just because I was in the mood to watch it again (With the Criterion going for $20.00 I should just buy it). I'm going to finish out the month of September with my queue the way it is below, but after that I'm going to start having theme months with my queue. October I'm going to fill it with horror movies I've never seen before, November, probably going to pack it full of Criterion I've never seen before, maybe start doing director filmography and so on.

So, I'm up for suggestions (I'm pretty married to October being horror and November being Criterion) for either off the beaten path horror movies I should check out or some overlooked Criterion movies I should check out. I'm also taking suggestions for different themes for different months, so feel free to throw some of those out there as well.

Chopper (2000) was awesome. I love The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (2007) and Killing Them Softly (2012) (unfortunately for the latter, my opinion is not the popular one), so it was nice to see Dominik's cinematic roots. Eric Bana nails this role, and it was nice to see Vince Colosimo (who would go on to play one of Chopper's underworld contemporaries, Alphonse Gangitano, in Underbelly) in here as well. I love how ****ing violent this film is. Stab wounds to the neck, chest, gut, and sawed off shotguns to the face, I'm all about this movie. After watching this, Animal Kingdom (2010), and the first season of Underbelly, I need to delve deeper into Australian gangster/crime genre.

Next, I did some switching around in my queue, and apparently I can't wait until my Criterion month of November to watch Richard III (1955), because that's what I have coming next.

Though I had Richard III (1955) next on my queue, Netflix sent me Paths of Glory (1957) instead (oddly enough, which had a "long wait" time). I didn't mind, the last time I saw Paths of Glory was when I had Blockbuster by mail in like 2007-2008, so I was overdue for a rewatch. I'll just have to catch Richard III during my Criterion month of November. I don't think I can add anymore to this movie with what has already been said. You got Kurt Douglas, ****ing Ralph Meeker (I wish he would have been in more of Kubrick's stuff), and Joseph "Dr. Tyrell" Turkel. My favorite part of the movie is the first half, all those tracking shots in the trenches during artillery bombardment. And man, the framing of the execution scene at the end.

Since Oct is on Sunday, I decided to get my Halloween top ten going. I think I have a good mix of stuff. I got some classic horror I haven't seen, some bad horror movies I've never seen, and then some more modern stuff that seemed worth checking out that flew under my radar.

I was blown away by Suspiria (1977). I don't know how something this good could fly under my radar for this long. Easily the most effective thing about this movie is the soundtrack. Holy ****, this has to be one of the greatest horror soundtracks. And this film is ****ing brutal at some points. I'm just going to say one thing: razor wire scene. All around this is an amazing movie: the lighting, cinematography, and the sets are not just good for a horror movie, there are good for any movie. This is the first time in a while where a movie just totally rocketed over my expectations. The only familiarity I had with Argento before this was his cut of Dawn of the Dead (1978), but I liked Suspiria soo much that I wanted to complete his "Three Mothers" trilogy by watching Inferno (1980) next and then Mother of Tears (2007).

For those in the know, did this never get a decent US DVD release? The DVD Netflix sent me literally looked like someone just copied it from a VHS tape. Also, the whole time while watching this I was wondering how this was never gobbled up by Hollywood for an American remake, but as soon as the movie finished, I hit the internet and unfortunately, there is a remake coming out this year.

Please forgive my ignorance about the DVD service of Netflix but how does it work exactly? You create your own movies list and you receive one DVD at a time is that right? When you send them back the last DVD you received from Netflix, they send you the first queued movie in your list. Is that correct? Do they suggest you some movies based on your queue or not?

Favorite Movies

Please forgive my ignorance about the DVD service of Netflix but how does it work exactly? You create your own movies list and you receive one DVD at a time is that right? When you send them back the last DVD you received from Netflix, they send you the first queued movie in your list. Is that correct? Do they suggest you some movies based on your queue or not?

That's exactly how it works, you just make a queue of films (found out not to long ago that the max is 500), and they ship you either one or two disks depending on what plan you have. And when you mail it back, they send you the next movie on your list. I haven't gotten any personalized suggestions, but on the main page of the app there are different categories , like "Classic Gritty Movies" or "Award Winners" that have recommendations. And once you click on a movie's page, if you scroll down to the bottom there are lists of movies that you may also enjoy.

It's a great service. I've had it for a year now, and selection on there isn't perfect, but they have at least 90% of what i want to see; unlike any streaming service.

The funny thing is, that was the whole business model originally. When I joined there was either no streaming, or it was new and almost nobody used it. You'd just mail DVDs back and forth--you'd pay more depending on a) whether there was a monthly limit and b) how many you could have out at one time.

I still use the one-at-a-time (but otherwise unlimited) disc plan along with the streaming option.

User Lists

Thanks Gangland for these details! And the price is $4.99 / mo for the cheapest plan with 1 DVD at a time? How can they be profitable with such a low price?!
@Yoda: yes I learned this recently by looking at their wikipedia page, amazing! The business may have totally shifted from DVD to streaming no? When you said "When I joined there was either no streaming..." you meant you work at Netflix?

I don't want to "pollute" this thread, feel free to tell me to go to private message if you want @Gangland!

Favorite Movies

Thanks Gangland for these details! And the price is $4.99 / mo for the cheapest plan with 1 DVD at a time? How can they be profitable with such a low price?!

Volume. Mailing in bulk can be pretty cheap, and it takes a couple of days there and back, so even if you watch a DVD as soon as you get it, you're probably able to get through 10 a month. And most people let them sit for at least a few days, if not weeks. I think my record is four months.

Anyway, they make more from streaming, which is why they've been moving that way for awhile now.

All that said, people still complain a lot when they raise their prices, even though for a long time they kept the same price even after adding streaming. I think I've gotten into a couple of arguments on here about it, actually.

@Yoda: yes I learned this recently by looking at their wikipedia page, amazing! The business may have totally shifted from DVD to streaming no? When you said "When I joined there was either no streaming..." you meant you work at Netflix?

User Lists

Thanks Gangland for these details! And the price is $4.99 / mo for the cheapest plan with 1 DVD at a time? How can they be profitable with such a low price?!
@Yoda: yes I learned this recently by looking at their wikipedia page, amazing! The business may have totally shifted from DVD to streaming no? When you said "When I joined there was either no streaming..." you meant you work at Netflix?

I don't want to "pollute" this thread, feel free to tell me to go to private message if you want @Gangland!

There's very little back and fourth on this thread, so I'm glad to see the discussion!
Appreciate the consideration, but if you have any questions, ask away!

To echo some of the sentiments of the conversation thus far, I'm also surprised that they keep this DVD by mail option around. I don't know how long it will last, but I will sure as hell miss it when it's gone.

Oh yes. Very clever. Also the mailing time may impact the number of movies you can watch each month. This "ping-pong" game between you and Netflix takes several days each time a DVD go back and forth. So you'll never be able to see 30 movies in a month. That's interesting. Thanks for your reply @Yoda!

Favorite Movies

Thanks Gangland for your answer (we posted at the same time, I didn't see it immediately).

I think they still have the DVD service up and running because it may be a way to acquire new customers for their streaming service. If they close the service people may use the streaming service instead. It seems profitable too so why not keeping it?

I know you don't like the streaming service. I hope they won't shut the DVD service down soon so you can keep enjoying your DVDs .

Favorite Movies

Inferno (1980) was disappointingly conventional compared to Suspiria (1977), and really took longer than it needed to get started. The score of Suspiria filled me with a constant uneasiness and dread, but the score for Inferno was not done by Goblin and really didn't have the same effect. Argento's style is clearly present and the gore/murder scenes are good, but again, like everything in the film, it takes a back seat to Suspiria. Overall, it wasn't a terrible movie, but it left me really dissapointed. I can't help but feel that i'm going to feel the same way with Mother of Tears (2007), which I have coming up next.

Wrapped up "The Three Mothers" trilogy with Mother of Tears (2007), which I liked more than Inferno (1980), but (of course) didn't measure up to the madness that was Suspiria (1977). What I liked about Mother of Tears is that nobody but Argento could have accomplished getting a modern horror movie that made that little sense produced. Those that appreciate Argento's style will enjoy it, but it's not much use outside of that.

Unfortunately, Netflix is showing that they sent me Zombi 3 (1988), but I never received it. Stuff like this is bound to happen with this type of service, but, making a year this month with Netflix by mail, this is the first time I have encountered such a problem. So, I'll have to scratch Zombie 3 off my Halloween list, and I bumped up my theme queue for November: Never before seen Criterion movies.

I've only just now subscribed to Netflix (Stranger Things did it for me) and I'm prepared to give it a go and see what I can get out of it. I know there's films and shows on there that could save me some money if I bought it in physical format.

I started my netflix Criterion month a little late, but I finally knocked out Something Wild (1961) last night. This was different. After starting off with a title sequence done by the master himself, Saul Bass, Something Wild begins with the rape of college student Mary Ann (Carroll Baker). Suffering from PTSD, she alienates herself from her family and co-workers and eventually tries to commit suicide by jumping off the Brooklyn Bridge. At the last minute, she is saved by a mechanic (Ralph Meeker), who goes all proto-neckbeard on her with the reasoning since he saved her life, she should be his wife now and then keeps her captive in his basement apartment.

Something Wild was shot all on location in New York, except for the scenes in Meeker's apartment. In that respect, it makes it a great companion piece to Blast of Silence (1961), which was illegally shot, guerrilla style, on the streets of New York. Both films act as time capsules of the early 60s.

Despite Baker's great performance, Meeker is the star here. You're never quite sure what's off about his character, but obviously something is not right. A departure from his hyper masculine character of Mike Hammer in Kiss Me Deadly (1955), Meeker's character, who is also named Mike in Something Wild, is an infantile alcoholic of a man. The best scene of the movie comes out of nowhere: a dream sequence in an art museum with little girls with no faces and a dead horse whose eyes are melting on a painting.

The film is not without its problems, there are several fade transitions which make absolutely no sense, and brings to mind the phrase just because you can edit doesn't mean you should. But the film is an early indy accomplishment, even though the lack of return/criticism that the film was met with caused the director Jack Garfein to abandon filmmaking and retreat back to his comfort zone: the theater.

As per tradition at this point, I did alot of meddling with my queue. Next time I'm popping open a Guinness and watching the Belfast set noir Odd Man Out (1947).

A few months ago, I fell into a deep movie depression. For some reason, streaming **** just wasn't doing it for me anymore. I don't know why, but just having a DVD, and putting it in a DVD player always completed the ritual for me. Before the collapse, I worked at Blockbuster for about 8 years, so renting movies was the center of my life for almost a decade (you can read more about that here).

Streaming for me is just too instantaneous; bordering on cinematic prostitution. I know that's like someone saying today that they wish the Polio vaccine was never created because they miss the 1950's; I'm not saying this makes sense, it's just how I feel.

Anyway, one day, it suddenly hit me: Netflix by mail. I feverishly looked up to see if this still existed. It does. I instantly singed up and added movies to my queue. Most of the stuff at the top is **** I've always wanted to see, but for some reason I never watched. I'm trying to get that out of the way before I move on to movies I want to revisit.

I've had it for a few months soo far, and here's what I received:

-The American Friend (1977)
-Street Trash (1987)
-In the Mouth of Madness (1994)
-Cronos (1993)
-Witchfinder General (1968)
-Capone (1975)
-Zero Charisma (2013)
-The Element of Crime (1984)
-Cube (1997)
-Love is Colder Than Death (1969)
-All Through the Night (1942)
-Shadow of the Vampire (2000)
-The Street With No Name (1948)
-Underworld U.S.A. (1961) (My favorite out of the bunch)
-Nosferatu: Phantom Der Nacht (1979)
-Night and the City (1950) ( A close second out of the bunch)

The Driver and Where the Sidewalk Ends both have long waits, so I expect to get Eli Wallach FALCON KICKING some d00d in a wheel chair down the stairs in The Line Up next.

I plan to make this a continuous update, hoping this will be Viagra for conversation/debate.
Also, totally open for suggestions for additions to the queue.

There is a case to be made for tradition, such as movie theaters and dvd's and I get the physical connection, as I own my own little collection but to me it has become one more unnecessary step towards my goal to see as many movies, when I want and when I can.
To that end, you can't beat streaming.
I did my research and have found the best streaming sites that allow me instant access directly to my 65"Samsung and Sharp Aquos , often stuff that's still in theaters.
Would not trade it for the world.

Speaking of Netflix, it's interesting to note that their streaming is not the same as their DVD's , in terms of selection.
They are two separately run departments.
I used to belong to both of them but got tired of being by passed for new releases in my queue, which was basically all I was interested to begin with.
Amazon Prime probably has the best DVD selection out there, but you got to buy them.